Hoop and Holler residents irate over planned repeat breach

Hoop and Holler prepares for breach 2014

Preparations for a controlled breach of Hoop and Holler bend near Portage la Prairie are underway, though the province promises it will be a last resort. (SVJETLANA MLINAREVIC/QMI Agency)

SVJETLANA MLINAREVIC/QMI Agency

Preparations for a controlled breach of Hoop and Holler bend near Portage la Prairie are underway, though the province promises it will be a last resort. (SVJETLANA MLINAREVIC/QMI Agency)

SVJETLANA MLINAREVIC/QMI Agency

Preparations for a controlled breach of Hoop and Holler bend near Portage la Prairie are underway, though the province promises it will be a last resort. (SVJETLANA MLINAREVIC/QMI Agency)

SVJETLANA MLINAREVIC/QMI Agency

The road to the Hoop and Holler bend is closed. Many sandbags are being made in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. Friday, July 4, 2014. Chris Procaylo/Winnipeg Sun/QMI Agency

Chris Procaylo/Winnipeg Sun/QMI

Members of the Canadian Armed Forces are helping to fight the flood in Manitoba. Many sandbags are being made in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. This is the Portage Diversion. Friday, July 4, 2014. Chris Procaylo/Winnipeg Sun/QMI Agency

Chris Procaylo/Winnipeg Sun/QMI

Members of the Canadian Armed Forces are helping to fight the flood in Manitoba. Many sandbags are being made in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. Friday, July 4, 2014. Chris Procaylo/Winnipeg Sun/QMI Agency

Chris Procaylo/Winnipeg Sun/QMI

Members of the Canadian Armed Forces are helping to fight the flood in Manitoba. Many sandbags are being made in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. Friday, July 4, 2014. Chris Procaylo/Winnipeg Sun/QMI Agency

Chris Procaylo/Winnipeg Sun/QMI

Members of the Canadian Armed Forces are helping to fight the flood in Manitoba. Many sandbags are being made in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. Friday, July 4, 2014. Chris Procaylo/Winnipeg Sun/QMI Agency

Chris Procaylo/Winnipeg Sun/QMI

Many sandbags are being made in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. Friday, July 4, 2014. Chris Procaylo/Winnipeg Sun/QMI Agency

Chris Procaylo/Winnipeg Sun/QMI

Many sandbags are being made in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. Friday, July 4, 2014. Chris Procaylo/Winnipeg Sun/QMI Agency

Chris Procaylo/Winnipeg Sun/QMI

Many sandbags are being made in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. Friday, July 4, 2014. Chris Procaylo/Winnipeg Sun/QMI Agency

Chris Procaylo/Winnipeg Sun/QMI

Members of the Canadian Armed Forces are helping to fight the flood in Manitoba. Many sandbags are being made in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. Friday, July 4, 2014. Chris Procaylo/Winnipeg Sun/QMI Agency

Chris Procaylo/Winnipeg Sun/QMI

Members of the Canadian Armed Forces are helping to fight the flood in Manitoba. Many sandbags are being made in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. Friday, July 4, 2014. Chris Procaylo/Winnipeg Sun/QMI Agency

Since the province announced it might make a controlled breach at the Hoop and Holler bend, area residents have been livid.

“Selinger is an a------ and an idiot,” said one resident, whose home is located about 100 metres from the bend and was flooded during the 2011 breach.

“If they want to keep flooding my land, I want them to buy it from me.”

The resident has been living near Hoop and Holler for 30 years and said 2011’s breach not only damaged her property, but it damaged her land with silt deposits.

“Nothing can grow here because of it,” she said, adding she has only been compensated for 75% of her claim.

Further down the road from the bend, local lawyer Danny Kreklewich said he and his wife chose to construct their half-a-million dollar home in the area five years ago because they felt it was “protected and secure.”

“It sounds like we’re now Manitoba’s third floodway. I don’t think that they can expect us to take it on the chin again, and again, and again. I think the likelihood of a lawsuit is 10 times greater this time,” he said.

Kreklewich said his property value has dropped, a sentiment echoed by other area residents.

“We’ll never get our money out of it now. They’ve screwed us and there’s not much we can do about it,” he said.

During a press conference on Saturday, the premier said he sympathized with Hoop and Holler residents.

“It’s a tremendously stressful experience for anybody in the Hoop and Holler area that’s in the inundation zone, so I totally appreciate where this individual is coming from ... We’re only going to use the Hoop and Holler as an absolute last resort and we’ll have troops and volunteers in there as soon as possible to check homes and property,” said Selinger.

Residents also had concerns that Saskatchewan wasn’t taking any responsibility for controlling flood waters coming into Manitoba, why the province doesn’t construct a more permanent solution to the Hoop and Holler bend to divert water, and specifically why the government doesn’t make a breach in the Poplar Point area to flood pasture land instead of making a cut at the bend.

During a press conference on Saturday, Premier Greg Selinger didn’t have an answer when asked about Poplar Point as a possible flood plain by QMI Agency.

For now, residents can only wait and see if the bend will be cut and hope for the best, according to Eric Turko, whose father owns the property directly across from the Hoop and Holler bend.

“We got a bit more notice than last time,” he said as Portage Emergency Services erected aqua dams around his home. “I somehow think that it will be OK ... We can wish for the best is all I can say.”

Hoop and Holler residents irate over planned repeat breach

Hoop and Holler residents irate over planned repeat breach

A cut in the Hoop and Holler bend is still being viewed as a last resort, the province said Saturday afternoon.

A controlled release, which would direct water into several hundred square kilometres of land to protect homes, was also used in the 2011 flood and flood officials said Saturday it could be used again depending on the capacity of the Portage Diversion and Assiniboine River dikes east of Portage la Prairie.

But they emphasized that it will will only take place if absolutely needed.

“This is going to be an hour-by-hour, day-by-day review of what the situation is,” said Doug McMahon, assistant deputy minister with MIT. “It’s very dynamic.

“If any issues arise there that put communities at risk of an uncontrolled event,” added premier Greg Selinger, “then the Hoop and Holler becomes a better option because you can still control it and it will never act as the first line of defence, but always as a back up.